Systems and Methods for Reducing Power Consumption in a Redundant Storage Array

Abstract

A method for reducing power consumption in a mirrored disk array including first disk resources mirrored with second disk resources is provided. A write request to write particular data to the mirrored disk array is received. In response to receiving the write request, the first disk resources are spun to write the particular data to the first disk resources, and the particular data is stored to a cache memory without spinning the second disk resources. Subsequent to storing the particular data to the first disk resources and storing the particular data to the cache memory, the second disk resources are spun to write the particular data from the cache memory to the second disk resources.

1 . A method for reducing power consumption in a mirrored disk array including first disk resources mirrored with second disk resources, the method comprising:
 receiving a write request to write particular data to the mirrored disk array;   in response to receiving the write request:
 spinning the first disk resources to write the particular data to the first disk resources; and 
 storing the particular data to a cache memory without spinning the second disk resources; and 
   subsequent to storing the particular data to the first disk resources and storing the particular data to the cache memory, spinning the second disk resources to write the particular data from the cache memory to the second disk resources.   
   
   
       2 . A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a read request to read data from the mirrored disk array; and   in response to receiving the data write request:
 spinning the first disk resources to read the data from the first disk resources; and 
 not spinning the second disk resources. 
   
   
   
       3 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein storing the particular data to a cache memory without spinning the second disk resources comprises storing the particular data to a cache memory portion of the second disk resources. 
   
   
       4 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein storing the particular data to a cache memory without spinning the second disk resources comprises storing the particular data to a cache memory separate from both the first disk resources and the second disk resources. 
   
   
       5 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 the mirrored disk array comprises a RAID  1  array;   the first disk resources comprise a single first disk; and   the second disk resources comprise a single second disk mirrored with the single first disk.   
   
   
       6 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 the mirrored disk array comprises a RAID  10  array;   the first disk resources comprise multiple first disks; and   the second disk resources comprise multiple second disks mirrored with the multiple first disks.   
   
   
       7 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 spinning the first disk resources to write the particular data to the first disk resources comprises spinning the first disk resources at a first speed; and   spinning the second disk resources to write the particular data from the cache memory to the second disk resources comprises spinning the first disk resources at a second speed slower than the first speed.   
   
   
       8 . A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining whether the amount of data stored in the cache memory, including the particular data, has exceeded a predefined threshold level; and   wherein spinning the second disk resources to write the particular data from the cache memory to the second disk resources subsequent to storing the particular data to the cache memory comprises spinning the second disk resources to write the data stored in the cache memory, including the particular data, to the second disk resources in response to determining that the amount of data stored in the cache memory has exceeded the predefined threshold level.   
   
   
       9 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein spinning the second disk resources to write the particular data from the cache memory to the second disk resources subsequent to storing the particular data to the cache memory comprises spinning the second disk resources to write data stored in the cache memory, including the particular data, to the second disk resources after a predefined time interval. 
   
   
       10 . An information handling system configured for reducing power consumption in a mirrored disk array, the information handling system comprising:
 a mirrored disk array including first disk resources mirrored with second disk resources; and   a storage controller configured to:
 receive a write request to write particular data to the mirrored disk array; 
 in response to receiving the write request:
 spin the first disk resources to write the particular data to the first disk resources; 
 store the particular data to a cache memory without spinning the second disk resources; and 
 subsequent to storing the particular data to the first disk resources and storing the particular data to the cache memory, spin the second disk resources to write the particular data from the cache memory to the second disk resources. 
 
   
   
   
       11 . A information handling system according to  claim 10 , wherein the storage controller is further configured to:
 receive a read request to read data from the mirrored disk array; and   in response to receiving the data write request:
 spin the first disk resources to read the data from the first disk resources; and 
 not spin the second disk resources. 
   
   
   
       12 . A information handling system according to  claim 10 , wherein storing the particular data to a cache memory without spinning the second disk resources comprises storing the particular data to a cache memory portion of the second disk resources. 
   
   
       13 . A information handling system according to  claim 10 , wherein storing the particular data to a cache memory without spinning the second disk resources comprises storing the particular data to a cache memory separate from both the first disk resources and the second disk resources. 
   
   
       14 . A information handling system according to  claim 10 , wherein:
 the mirrored disk array comprises a RAID  1  array;   the first disk resources comprise a single first disk; and   the second disk resources comprise a single second disk mirrored with the single first disk.   
   
   
       15 . A information handling system according to  claim 10 , wherein:
 the mirrored disk array comprises a RAID  10  array;   the first disk resources comprise multiple first disks; and   the second disk resources comprise multiple second disks mirrored with the multiple first disks.   
   
   
       16 . A information handling system according to  claim 10 , wherein:
 spinning the first disk resources to write the particular data to the first disk resources comprises spinning the first disk resources at a first speed; and   spinning the second disk resources to write the particular data from the cache memory to the second disk resources comprises spinning the first disk resources at a second speed slower than the first speed.   
   
   
       17 . A information handling system according to  claim 10 , wherein:
 the storage controller is further configured to determine whether the amount of data stored in the cache memory, including the particular data, has exceeded a predefined threshold level; and   spinning the second disk resources to write the particular data from the cache memory to the second disk resources subsequent to storing the particular data to the cache memory comprises spinning the second disk resources to write the data stored in the cache memory, including the particular data, to the second disk resources in response to determining that the amount of data stored in the cache memory has exceeded the predefined threshold level.   
   
   
       18 . A information handling system according to  claim 10 , wherein spinning the second disk resources to write the particular data from the cache memory to the second disk resources subsequent to storing the particular data to the cache memory comprises spinning the second disk resources to write data stored in the cache memory, including the particular data, to the second disk resources after a predefined time interval. 
   
   
       19 . A method for reducing power consumption in a mirrored disk array including first disk resources mirrored with second disk resources, the method comprising:
 receiving a read or write request at the mirrored disk array;   in response to receiving the read or write request:
 spinning the first disk resources to process the read or write request; and 
 not spinning the second disk resources during processing of the read or write request by the first disk resources. 
   
   
   
       20 . A method according to  claim 19 , wherein:
 the read or write request comprises a write request to write particular data to the mirrored disk array; and   the method comprises:
 spinning the first disk resources to write the particular data to the first disk resources; 
 storing the particular data to a cache memory without spinning the second disk resources; and 
 subsequent to storing the particular data to the first disk resources and storing the particular data to the cache memory, spinning the second disk resources to write the particular data from the cache memory to the second disk resources. 
   
   
   
       21 . A method according to  claim 19 , wherein:
 the read or write request comprises a read request to read particular data from the mirrored disk array; and   the method comprises:
 spinning the first disk resources to read the particular data from the first disk resources; 
 not spinning the second disk resources during the reading of the particular data from the first disk resources.